Lake Shore
Hosp Authority

LSHA Berry to Gov. Scott's Board:
Pull Down the Shade on Florida's Sunshine

Posted January 14, 2015 07:15 am

By Stew Lilker

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
On Monday night, the Lake
Shore Hospital Authority was at
it again. Authority Manager,
Jackson P. "Jack" Berry, sprung
on the Board and the public a
request that the Authority Board
send a letter to the Florida
legislature requesting that the
Sunshine Law; Public Records
Law; Sale or Lease of a Public
Hospital Law; and the
Confidentiality of Hospital
Records and Meetings Law be
changed for them. The Board
wants to keep from the public
the value of its public hospital
and its discussions to sell it
until after it meets in secret
to seal a deal. It also wants to
keep the plan secret.

In November, Attorney General Pam Bondi
put the kibosh on the Authority's first attack
on the Sunshine: keeping the valuations and its plan
secret as part of the Authority's strategic plan.
Manager Berry never brought this to the attention of the
Board, at least in public.

It
appears that after that failure, Manager Berry, with the
help of Koby Adams, Board member and Representative
Elizabeth Porter's Chief Legislative Aid, the process
began to get the laws changed. Monday night at the
Authority meeting, nobody volunteered that information.

However, the Lake City Reporter, the County's good
ole' boy print newspaper and county cheerleader, wrote:
State Rep. Liz Porter, R-Lake City, has submitted a
preliminary proposal in the House to allow health care
facilities trying to sell or lease a hospital to hold
private meetings about it.

The LCR also wrote: Koby Adams... said Porter is
offering the proposal in order to "facilitate the sale
of the hospital [Shands at Lakeshore]."

Mr. Adams did not say this during the meeting. This
is another case in which the Lake City Reporter is
representing information as if it occurred at a public
meeting, when it did not.

Board Chairperson Chancy handed the discussion over
to Berry

When the meeting was gaveled to order, no one
announced any additions to the evening's agenda. Gov.
Scott's appointed board doesn't believe in that.

Chairperson Chancy began, "Is there any old business?
[Silence] OK. We'll move to new business. We have a
Florida statute with strategic planning that we need to
talk about -- Jack."

Manager
Berry jumped right in (as spoken), "It will be Florida
Statute 390.3035 that does not allow in the strategic
plan. It does not accept sale of a hospital for a shade
meeting [meeting closed to the public]. We'd like to get
the board to request that the legislature provide
legislation to add sale of a hospital to it. It's got
purchasin' of hospitals and medical facilities, but it
actually doesn't have a sale to exempt it for shade
meetings." [FL Stat. 390 addresses termination of
pregnancy. The Board's new attorney let it pass]

Board member Dr. Waseem Khan wanted to know how that
was done.

Manager Berry said, "The legislative assistants told
me at the board we send a letter to the legislature and
they will draft legislation to add it."

Board member Janet Creel, asked, "How long will that
take?"

Manager Berry answered, "Hopefully we can do it this
session. We've got to get it in this next week in order
to get it in this session."

No one mentioned that Rep. Porter purportedly had
this in the works. Manager Berry announced, "I need a
motion to approve it. Mr. Koberlein will take care of
the draft."

Fred Koberlein replaced Marlin Feagle as the
Authority Attorney.

Long time Board member Marc Vann made a motion to
"allow strategic discussions about the sale of the
hospital."

"Why are we doing this?"

Stephen Douglas

Board member Stephen Douglas asked, "Why are we doing
this? Do we not have a meeting scheduled for February to
have an open meeting for this discussion?"

Manager Berry, a republican operative, answered, (as
spoken) "We do. However, everybody pretty much thinks
that there ought a be changed in the future -- if we
should get to the future down the road, now's the time
to change it."

Mr. Berry did not volunteer who "everybody" was. No
one asked.

The Authority's accountant – financial advisor –
auditor, all one person, Richard Powell, opined about
adding a long term lease to the language and it was
added.

Fred Koberlein: New Authority Attorney as Advocate

Attorney Koberlein mentioned that he spoke with the
House (unintelligible) last week. Mr. Koberlein then
advocated for the change in the law. He suggested that
the Board couldn't do its job with the present law, "You
almost have an arm tied behind your back," he said.

Attorney
Koberlein continued, "Mr. Feagle asked the Atty.
General's Office: can we meet to discuss these
valuations in private in order to maximize the public's
benefit when we go out to sell, if we do sell? The
Attorney General's office said no. You have to meet in
public and therefore any potential purchasers will know
all the [unintelligible] almost minimizes any benefit
you have in negotiation power."

The Attorney General's opinion does not say anything
about Mr. Feagle asking about private discussions of
valuations to "maximize the public benefit." If he had
it, Manager Berry did not release Mr. Feagle's letter.

Mr. Koberlein continued, "At this point in time we
would be asking the House, or the legislature in total,
to consider exempting a portion of the state law --
meaning the valuations -- from public disclosure until
we're done negotiating.

Board member Tim Murphy

Mr. Murphy said, "The valuations are public already."

Mr. Koberlein opined, "... That won't necessarily
help us in the short time, but if we don't sell, we're
going to have to do it in the future. Then it will help
us in the future."

Mr. Murphy followed up, "The meeting in the shade is
really not to discuss the valuation of it, it's a
strategy of how..."

Mr. Adams explained that they would have to get a
sponsor in the state senate; it would go through
committee. He told the Board, "The possibility of it
being out of this session is a good possibility."

Mr. Douglas said, "It's fine if it doesn't hold up
the process."

Mr. Berry said it wouldn't.

The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Koberlein will
draft the letter asking the legislature to add the
exemptions for the Hosp Auth.

An end run around the Sunshine Law: Added expense

When the hospital lease came up, Attorney Koberlein
said he would contact each board member individually. He
gave no reason why this would or could not be discussed
with everyone at the next Auth Board meeting.

The County taxpayer supported Authority will have to
pay Mr. Koberlein seven times for his explanation,
rather than once.

Manager Berry announced that there will be a workshop
after the next Board meeting on February 9. He did not
ask Mr. Koberlein to explain the lease there.

He told the Board, "The financial advisor will be in
town that day on Monday and we'll be probably meeting
with each board member individually, or he will, before
the meeting."

Mr. Douglas inquired about the time of the advisor
meetings.

Mr. Berry said he would be "setting up appointments
with each of them next week."

Mr. Douglas asked, "And the [financial] advisor will
be meeting with us one on one prior to that?"

Manager Berry answered, "Yes."

Epilogue

To ask the legislature to change the Florida statues
just for them may be incredible.

Playing post office with Board members (meeting with
them one at a time) is clearly designed to keep the
discussions out of the Sunshine.

Blatantly ignoring SB 50, which gives the people the
right to speak on items coming before the Board for
action, is nothing new for the secretive Jack Berry and
the LSHA.